We work to save water and energy

More efficient buildings and networks

1 – The buildings in which we live and work use 40% of the world's energy.
That consumption has increased by 30% in 30 years.

2 – In industrialized countries, people use drinking water for virtually everything.
Yet non-potable, treated water can provide a suitable replacement for drinking water in a number of cases – such as washing clothes, flushing toilets and watering gardens – helping to save water resources.

3 – We can reduce the water and energy consumption of our factories and facilities by optimizing processes through measures such as reusing reclaimed water and creating heating networks fueled by recovered energy.

4 – The cities of tomorrow will be energy-positive: our buildings will produce more energy than they use.

5 – The cities of tomorrow will be eco-efficient. Smart grids and meters will improve the way cities manage their water and energy flows.

Smart meters detect leaks in Le Havre

Thousands of cubic meters of water are lost without ever being used because of leaky pipes. In the French city of Le Havre, M2OCity – a joint venture between Veolia and Orange – is installing 100,000 smart meters that will enable significant water savings by 2016 through improved leak detection.

Water loss resulting from dripping taps, running toilets and faulty relief valves on hot water tanks often goes unseen.
Now, a small box fitted to individual water meters can send information on the water consumption of each customer to the service operator. If a leak is suspected, the customer receives a text message allowing them to take the necessary steps. For the city of Le Havre, this represents yet another step forward in protecting water resources.

The grass is greener for cows in the UK

Müller Wiseman Dairies (formerly Robert Wiseman Dairies) is the UK's largest milk producer: its cows produce 30% of the milk consumed every day in Great Britain.

The dairy producer's key sustainable development goal is to use natural resources more sparingly. At one of the company’s dairies, this led to a campaign to reduce water consumption.

To rise to the challenge, Veolia suggested recycling wastewater from the site using a reverse osmosis system designed to provide extremely fine filtration via low-pressure membranes and highly efficient pumps. This enables a 99% reduction in the chemical oxygen demand usually associated with recycling water and dissolving salt and bacteria.

As a result, Müller Wiseman Dairies now discharges less wastewater into the sewerage system. The wastewater is used to turn wetland into land suitable for grazing, as well as to reduce CO2 emissions.